1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control transmitter for remotely controlling an apparatus.
2. Background Art
With increasing numbers of devices capable of remotely controlling an apparatus such as a television or a videocassette recorder, remote control transmitters each capable of remotely controlling a plurality of such apparatuses through operation have recently increased in number.
Also, devices capable of storing a plurality of frequently used individual functions and sending a specified function of these set functions or all the set individual functions have increased in number.
With reference to FIGS. 6-8A, 8B and 8C, one of such conventional remote control transmitters is described hereinafter.
FIG. 6 is an external view of the conventional remote control transmitter. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the same remote control transmitter. In FIG. 6, the remote control transmitter is provided with display part 1, such as a liquid crystal display element, at its left front.
At the right front of the remote control transmitter, up and down selection buttons 2D, 2E, left and right selection buttons 2F, 2G, “ENTER” button 2C, “POWER” button 2A and others are arranged, thus forming operating part 2.
The remote control transmitter is stored with controller 3. Transmitter 4 is disposed above display part 1, converts an electric signal from controller 3 into an infrared signal and transmits the infrared signal. Transmitter 4, operating part 2 and display part 1 are connected to controller 3. In this way, the remote control transmitter is formed.
A description is provided next of a remote control using the thus-constructed remote control transmitter for turning on, for example, the power to the television.
First, “POWER” button 2A is pressed. Upon detecting this press, controller 3 causes display part 1 to display an initial screen, such as illustrated by FIG. 8A. This initial screen shows an apparatus menu such as “TV”, which denotes the television to be remotely controlled, and others.
Here, translucent cursor 1A used for selecting a displayed option appears on “TV” located at the top of the screen. Subsequently, “ENTER” button 2C is pressed with cursor 1A located at “TV”. Upon detecting this press, controller 3 effects display of a screen, such as illustrated by FIG. 8B, showing the individual functions including “ON”, which represents the turning-on of the power to the television.
On this screen, cursor 1A appears on “ON” located at the upper left. When “ENTER” button 2C is pressed with cursor 1A located at “ON”, controller 3 outputs the electric signal corresponding to “ON” for remote control. Transmitter 4 converts this electric signal into the infrared signal and transmits this infrared signal. Consequently, the power to the television is turned on by remote control.
A description is provided next of setting or storage of the plurality of individual functions including turning on the power to the television, turning on the power to the videocassette recorder and playing back a videocassette, and transmission of a specified function of these set functions.
First, “HOME” button 2B shown in FIG. 6 is pressed to display, as shown in FIG. 8A, the initial screen displaying group menus including “Favorite” representing a combination of the frequently used specified functions, in addition to the apparatus menus.
Next, cursor 1A in FIG. 8A is moved to “Favorite”, and “SETTING” button 2H is pressed. Upon detecting this press, controller 3 brings about a state in which the individual functions can be added to “Favorite”.
Subsequently, the same procedure used in turning on the power to the television by remote control is followed. Specifically, cursor 1A is moved to “TV”, and then “ENTER” button 2C is pressed. Thereafter, cursor 1A is moved to “ON”, and “ENTER” button 2C is pressed. In this way, the function for turning on the power to the television can be added to “Favorite”.
Next, “HOME” button 2B is pressed, whereby the initial screen is restored. When “ENTER” button 2C is pressed with cursor 1A moved to “VCR” denoting the videocassette recorder, a screen such as illustrated by FIG. 8C appears, displaying the individual functions including “ON”, which represents the turning-on of the power to the videocassette recorder.
When “ENTER” button 2C is pressed with cursor 1A located at “ON” on this screen, the function for turning on the power to the videocassette recorder is added to “Favorite”.
Thereafter, “SETTING” button 2H is pressed. By detecting this press, controller 3 judges that the setting has been terminated, and restores the view of display part 1 to the initial screen.
As described above, in addition of the individual function to “Favorite”, “HOME” button 2B must be pressed to restore the initial screen displaying the group menus and others.
When “Favorite” is selected on the initial screen, a screen showing the functions such as turning on the power to the television and turning on the power to the videocassette recorder is displayed. By pressing “ENTER” button 2C with cursor 1A moved to the function for turning on the power to the television on that screen, such remote control as to turn on the power to the television can be carried out.
A description is provided next of setting or storage of the plurality of individual functions including turning on the power to the television, turning on the power to the videocassette recorder and playing back the videocassette, and transmission of all these set functions.
First, “HOME” button 2B is pressed to display, as shown in FIG. 8A, the initial screen displaying the group menus including “Macro” representing a combination of the individual functions, in addition to the apparatus menus.
Next, cursor 1A is moved to “Macro”, and “SETTING” button 2H is pressed. In the same manner as in the addition of the specified functions to “Favorite”, the function for turning on the power to the television, the function for turning on the power to the videocassette recorder and the function for playing back the videocassette are added to “Macro” in this order.
Thereafter, “SETTING” button 2H is pressed. By detecting this press, controller 3 judges that the setting has been terminated and restores the view of display part 1 to the initial screen.
As described above, even in addition of the individual functions to “Macro”, “HOME” button 2B must be pressed to restore the initial screen displaying the group menus and others.
When “ENTER” button 2C is pressed with cursor 1A moved to “Macro” on the initial screen, controller 3 detects this press and successively outputs the electric signal corresponding to the turning-on of the power to the television, the electric signal corresponding to the turning-on of the power to the videocassette recorder and the electric signal corresponding to the replay of the videocassette in this order for remote control.
Accordingly, transmitter 4 converts these electric signals into the infrared signals and transmits those infrared signals, whereby first, the power to the television is turned on, next, the power to the videocassette recorder is turned on, and then the videocassette is replayed.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2002-152863 is known as an example of conventional art that pertains to the above-described invention.
The above-described conventional remote control transmitter, however, requires that in setting of the specified function such as the frequently used individual function, “HOME” button 2B should be pressed to restore the initial screen displaying the group menus each representing the combination of the set individual functions, and others. The correspondence between an overview of the plurality of group menus and the individual functions of the specified group menu is thus hard to understand, and accordingly, the specified function is hard to set.